Kentucky Lawmaker Proposes Bill Requiring Men To Get Permission From Their Wives To Buy Viagra

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A Kentucky lawmaker has proposed a bill restricting men from getting the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra unless they are married, visit a doctor twice, and have permission from their wives before they can be prescribed the drug.

In actuality, the Kentucky lawmaker, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, filed the satirical bill to make a point.

Fed up with laws restricting a woman’s right to choose, Marzian said she was proposing the law “to protect these men from themselves.”

According to the Courier-Journal, Marzian, a Louisville Democrat, is sponsoring House Bill 396 in an effort “to protect men’s health and ensure they are completely informed about a drug with potentially dangerous side effects.”

The Kentucky lawmaker’s bill stipulates that only married men would be able to obtain the drug and it would require “a man to make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse.”

Marzian said her reasons for proposing the law is simple.

“This is about family values.”

The bill came soon after Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed into law Senate Bill 4, the so-called “informed consent” bill, which requires women seeking an abortion to receive counseling 24 hours in advance of the procedure from a health professional.

Marzian is a staunch supporter of a woman’s right to make her own choices without government interference, and said her bill is meant to protest meddling by the predominantly male General Assembly into women’s health issues.

“Do we really want a bunch or legislators interfering in private, personal, medical decisions?”

Marzian concedes that it’s unlikely her tongue-in-cheek bill will get very far, but wanted to prove her point.

The Kentucky lawmaker has other plans to file a bill which would require potential gun buyers to obtain counseling 24 hours in advance from victims of gun violence before the purchase.

“I’m just making sure the government is taking care of your safety.”

According to ThinkProgress.com, this is not the first bill introduced to make a point about women’s issues.

In 2012, Oklahoma state Sen. Constance Johnson (D) introduced spoof amendment to a bill that would have outlawed oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation.

Her “every sperm is sacred” amendment to the bill said that “personhood” began at conception.

“Any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman’s vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child.”

Marzian does have her supporters on social media.

What do you think of the Kentucky lawmaker’s bill? Think her point will be taken?

[Image via Twitter/ThinkProgress]